Safety roman blind

ABSTRACT

A safety roman blind includes a shielding web unit disposed rearwardly of a blind curtain and having a web sheet attached to the blind curtain at a plurality of attached and attaching spots arranged along fold lines, and a casing disposed on the web sheet to receive and shield a pulled cord segment of a lift cord so as to prevent strangulation accidents.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U S. patent application Ser. No. 13/053,058, filed by the applicant on Mar. 21, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a roman blind, more particularly to a safety roman blind with a cord shielding web sheet.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/053,058, entitled “Window Blind Assembly,” filed by the applicant, there is disclosed a roman blind which includes a protecting net disposed rearwardly from a blind curtain and connected to the blind curtain at a plurality of horizontal fold regions. The protecting net has a fabric net folded to form a cord space for shielding rear pulled segments of two pull cords so as to prevent strangulation or suffocation accidents of children.

In assembly, the fabric net is folded and then connected to the blind curtain by stitching so as to form the cord space, thereby rendering the assembly complicated and inconvenient. Besides, a relatively large fabric net is required to match the blind curtain, thereby resulting in high material costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a safety roman blind which can be fabricated easily and at a relatively low cost.

According to this invention, the safety roman blind includes a headrail and a blind curtain having an upper end portion which is connected to the headrail, and extendable in an upright direction to terminate at a lower end portion. The blind curtain is configured to have a plurality of fold regions which are displaced from each other in the upright direction by a plurality of droopable regions such that, when the lower end portion is lifted to a raised position, the droopable regions are brought into a stacked arrangement with each other. Each of the fold regions has a plurality of attached spots displaced from each other along a folded line. At least one lift cord has a pulled cord segment which is disposed rearwardly of a rear major surface of the blind curtain, and which has a terminal end that is secured to a lowermost one of the fold regions. The pulled cord segment is suspended from the headrail and liftable along a lifting path in the upright direction. A shielding web unit has a web sheet which is extendable in the upright direction, and which has a plurality of attachment regions that are displaced from each other in the upright direction. Each of the attachment regions has a plurality of attaching spots which are displaced from each other along an attachment line and which are in mated attachments with the attached spots of a corresponding one of the fold regions to bring the attachment and fold lines in line with each other. The attaching and attached spots are offset from the lifting path. The web sheet is made from a web material thinner and lighter than that of the blind curtain such that, when the lower end portion is lifted to the raised position, the web sheet is bent away from the fold regions so as not to be trapped in between the droopable regions, thereby preventing the lifting movement of the pulled cord segment along the lifting path from being obstructed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one preferred embodiment of a safety roman blind according to this invention from a backside;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a web sheet of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the preferred embodiment, illustrating a blind curtain in a lifted state; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of another preferred embodiment of a safety roman blind according to this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a preferred embodiment of a safety roman blind according to the present invention is shown to comprise a headrail 2 extending in a longitudinal direction to be mounted on an upper edge of a window (not shown), a blind curtain 3, a lifting unit 5, and a shielding web unit 4.

The blind curtain 3 has an upper end portion 31 which is securely connected to the headrail 2, and is extendable in an upright direction transverse to the longitudinal direction to terminate at a lower end portion 32. The blind curtain 3 is configured to have a lowermost fold region 331 and two fold regions 341 which are displaced from one another in the upright direction, and a plurality of droopable regions 332, 342 defined between two adjacent ones of the fold regions 331, 341 and between the fold region 341 and the upper end portion 31. A plurality of weighting rods 35 are disposed on the fold and droopable regions 331, 341, 332, 342, respectively. Thus, when the lower end portion 32 is lifted to a raised position, as shown in FIG. 4, the droopable regions 332, 342 are brought into a stacked arrangement with each other in a transverse direction that is transverse to the longitudinal and upright directions. Each of the fold regions 331, 341 has a plurality of attached spots 333 (three attached spots 333 in this embodiment) displaced from one another along a folded line that is oriented in the longitudinal direction.

The lifting unit 5 includes a positioning member 52 and two lift cords 51. The positioning member 52 is disposed on the headrail 2 to stop and release the lift cords 51 in a known manner. Each of the lift cords 51 has a pulled cord segment 511 which is disposed rearwardly of a rear major surface of the blind curtain 3, and which has a terminal end 513 that is secured to the lowermost fold region 331, and an operating cord segment 512 which is disposed forwardly of a front major surface of the blind curtain 3 to be pulled by a lifting force. The pulled cord segment 511 of each of the lift cords 51 is suspended from the positioning member 52 and liftable along a lifting path in the upright direction such that the terminal end 513 is displaceable to the raised position by the lifting force.

The shielding web unit 4 is made from a netting material, and has a web sheet 41 which is hung from the headrail 2 to extend in the upright direction and which is disposed rearwardly of the rear major surface of the blind curtain 3, and two casings 42 integrally formed with the wet sheet 41 by stitching. The web sheet 41 has a plurality of attachment regions 411, 412 displaced from each other in the upright direction. Each of the attachment regions 411, 412 has a plurality of attaching spots 413 (three attaching spots 413 in this embodiment) which are displaced from each other along an attachment line and which are in mated attachments with the attached spots 333 of the corresponding fold region 331, 341 to bring the corresponding attachment and fold lines in line with each other. As shown in FIG. 3, the attaching and attached spots 413, 333 are offset from the lifting paths of the pulled cord segments 511 of the lift cords 51. The web sheet 4 is made from the netting material thinner and lighter than that of the blind curtain 3 such that, as shown in FIG. 4, when the lower end portion 32 of the blind curtain 3 is lifted to the raised position, the web sheet 41 is bent away from the fold regions 331, 341 so as not to be trapped in between the droopable regions 332, 342, thereby preventing the lifting movement of the pulled cord segments 511 along the lifting paths from being obstructed.

Each of the casings 42 defines a channel 43 extending along the lifting path of the pulled cord segment 511 of the respective lift cord 51 and between two adjacent ones of the attaching spots 413 of each attachment region 411, 412 so as to receive the pulled cord segment 511 therein. In this embodiment, the casings 42 are integrally formed with and attached to a rear major surface 414 of the web sheet 41 distal from the blind curtain 3. Alternatively, referring to FIG. 5, the casings 42 may be integrally formed with and attached to a front major surface 415 of the web sheet 41 proximate to the blind curtain 3.

As illustrated, the pulled cord segments 511 are shielded in the channels 43 of the casings 42, and thus are not available for a child to play therewith, thereby preventing the child from accidental strangulation. Additionally, since the web sheet 41 may be made from a single sheet of the netting material, and since the casings 42 are directly formed on the web sheet 41, the shielding web unit 4 and the blind curtain 3 can be manufactured separately and then connected to each other by stitching the attaching spots 413 and the attached spots 333, thereby rendering the fabrication operation easy and convenient, and reducing material costs.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what are considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretations and equivalent arrangements. 

1. A safety roman blind comprising: a headrail extending in a longitudinal direction; a blind curtain having an upper end portion which is connected to said headrail, and extendable in an upright direction transverse to the longitudinal direction to terminate at a lower end portion, said blind curtain being configured to have a plurality of fold regions which are displaced from each other in the upright direction by a plurality of droopable regions such that when said lower end portion is lifted to a raised position, said droopable regions are brought into a stacked arrangement with each other in a transverse direction that is transverse to the longitudinal and upright directions, each of said fold regions having a plurality of attached spots which are displaced from each other along a folded line; at least one lift cord having a pulled cord segment which is disposed rearwardly of a rear major surface of said blind curtain, and which has a terminal end that is secured to a lowermost one of said fold regions, said pulled cord segment being suspended from said headrail and liftable along a lifting path in the upright direction such that said terminal end is displaceable to the raised position by a lifting force applied to said lift cord; and a shielding web unit having a web sheet which is extendable in the upright direction, and which has a plurality of attachment regions that are displaced from each other in the upright direction, each of said attachment regions having a plurality of attaching spots which are displaced from each other along an attachment line and which are in mated attachments to said attached spots of a corresponding one of said fold regions to bring the attachment and fold lines in line with each other, said attaching and attached spots being offset from the lifting path, said web sheet being made from a web material thinner and lighter than that of said blind curtain such that, when said lower end portion is lifted to the raised position, said web sheet is bent away from said fold regions so as not to be trapped in between said droopable regions, thereby preventing lifting movement of said pulled cord segment along the lifting path from being obstructed.
 2. The safety roman blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shielding web unit has at least one casing which defines a channel extending along the lifting path to receive said pulled cord segment therein, and which is attached to said web sheet along the lifting path and between two adjacent ones of said attaching spots of each of said attachment regions.
 3. The safety roman blind as claimed in claim 2, wherein said shielding web unit is made from a netting material, said casing being integrally formed with said web sheet by stitching.
 4. The safety roman blind as claimed in claim 3, wherein said blind curtain has a plurality of weighting rods disposed on said fold and droopable regions, respectively.
 5. The safety roman blind as claimed in claim 3, wherein said casing is attached to a rear major surface of said web sheet distal from said blind curtain.
 6. The safety roman blind as claimed in claim 3, wherein said casing is attached to a front major surface of said web sheet proximate to said blind curtain. 